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At this year's E3, there was a lot of talk about Muramasa: The Demon Blade being the Wii title "most likely to succeed", and no wonder. Created as a 2D action side-scroller by the makers of hit titles Princess Crown and Odin Sphere, Muramasa was one of the best-looking, best-playing games on the exhibit floor. After that first exciting look, it wasn't easy to wait another three months for it to be released here in the 'States but you know what they say about good things and what happens when you wait…
The game is set sometime during the era when Japan was ruled by Shogun Tsuniyoshi Tokugawa. Seeking to quash civil unrest and confirm his ascendancy, this powerful Shogun is determined to locate the legendary Demon Blades, bloodthirsty weapons said to be as dangerous for those who use them as for those who face them. Upon starting the game, you're given the choice of following the story of Momohime, a princess and female ronin possessed by the spirit of an evil swordsman, or Kisuke, an amnesiac ninja trying to restore his forgotten past.
I first chose Momohime, and her story began by showing her body overtaken by the spirit of Jinkuro, a talented but corrupt samurai bent on becoming all-powerful by gathering up the Demon Blades. Poor Momohime spends the majority of the game hovering in space in the form of a sad-faced blue flame while Jinkuro uses her body to wreak havoc with the help of his absurdly voluptuous fox/human helper Kongiku. The game plays like a side-scroller with the heroes pursuing their objectives through colorful environments modeled after traditional Japanese landscape paintings. Beautiful as they are, the environments are peppered with dangerous enemies who'll unexpectedly attack. No worries though because in general, enemies are a cinch to defeat since each playable character can carry three powerful Demon Blades and easily swap among them using the C button.
While all weapons are formidable, they're also fragile, their endurance depending on their store of Soul Power which comes from killing enemies or can be found in the shape of little green flames floating in the environment. Once Soul Power is depleted, the blade breaks and becomes nearly useless. Once put back in their sheaths however, broken blades repair themselves over time and can be used again and again. In addition to having different speeds, strength and vitality requirements, blades all have distinct "Secret Arts" that can be used as long as the character has enough Soul Power. These let you do things like fry enemies with pillars of fire, or slice-and-dice them with spiked pinwheels of death. Each sword does something different and it's a lot of fun finding out which swords work best against which enemies.
Speaking of enemies, most of Muramasa's fun can be attributed to its wide range of enemies. Based on Japanese mythology, you'll encounter ninjas, samurai, giant frogs, ghosts, squatty demons, skeleton marksmen and ghouls that look like paunchy, balding old men in diapers. (Don't laugh--those guys are lethal.) Each enemy has a different kind of attack which keeps combat interesting throughout the game. Bosses too are based on the Japanese pantheon and some of the boss battles will really blow your mind.
Combat controls use the Wii remote and the nunchuck in an easy, intuitive way that makes for some seriously addictive combat. Surprisingly for a melee game, the game is completely devoid of Wii remote flailing; instead, it's all about context-sensitive moves based on the direction of the thumbstick combined with A button presses. You can easily perform running slashes, parries, dodges, uppercuts and ground attacks, everything flows well except during the toughest boss battles when you might feel both your thumbs cramping from overuse.
The action of the game far outstrips the RPG element of it since your hero's abilities can't be chosen and change passively when you level. You can increase your strength and vitality by equipping a single trinket, but lacking the ability to choose your hero's attributes, the main RPG element of Muramasa consists of forging weapons. As you fight enemies you gain spirit points and soul points (the difference between these is a little fuzzy) which allows you to forge new Demon Blades. A blade tree shows you which weapons you can forge and which must be forged first before you're able to forge the more powerful ones. The compulsive planners out there may choose to hoard spirit points and work their way to a specific blade but much of the fun is forging everything you can and trying out each new blade's Secret Art.
Combat is the main thrust of the game, but the natural flip side of combat is recovery and Vanillaware has come up with a fun cooking mechanic for restoring your precious Life Flame. You can buy ingredients in towns or find them lying around in baskets and then make various culinary delights like Miso Soup or Tofu Hot Pot. Cooking and eating both happen in first person view and it's fun to watch dishes bubble and simmer, than to disappear as you eat them. Food grants buffs as well as replenishing Life Flame but can only be eaten if you have room in your Fullness meter. If you hate cooking, you can also stop at local tea houses and noodle shops or buy healing pellets from village vendors. Probably the goofiest way you can restore Life Flame is by following monkeys when you encounter them in the forest. These little primates will lead you to hot springs that fully replenish your Life Flame and Soul Power. It's one of the funniest aspects of the game--sitting naked in a hot spring with a group of apathetic monkeys.
It's through little things like that, that Muramasa shows it's an expertly made game with a great sense of humor. Even more than the slick gameplay and funny little jokey bits though, the game is a feast for the eyes. Muramasa is quite possibly the most beautiful game any of us have seen this year. From the overview map which looks like a traditional Japanese painting, to the clever way in which depth is achieved by moving layered 2D elements at different speeds, it creates a stunningly stylized world that outdoes many a high-res 3D action title. Cityscapes and rice fields, burned-out forests and snow-capped mountains are all so varied, you can't wait to get to a new province just so to see the landscape. (The game even takes you to brilliantly conceived versions of Heaven and Hell in the Momohime story)
Amazing color and lighting make for incredible mood in each location which is augmented by the great character variety; main characters, villagers, enemies and bosses have all had great care paid to them and are very distinct. Aside from the obvious, there are also impressive little touches throughout the game like when you fight in the Shogun's castle and your blade strikes down the lamps hanging from the ceiling. Muramasa's sound is also top-quality. Anime fans and haters of dubbing will love that all the game's dialog is in Japanese with subtitles. Then there's the music which contains evocative themes for every location which range from psychedelic, guitar-heavy rock to contemplative, traditional-sounding acoustic pieces.
The game has so much going for it; addictive combat, great graphics, beautiful sound, but there are a few minor flaws that keep it from achieving its full potential. First, the pacing is stilted by the frequent appearance of post-combat score screens. Since combat happens about every thirty seconds, this really interferes with the flow of the game. Second, save points are scattered irregularly. Sometimes they're separated by only three screens; sometimes by several provinces which can cause a lot of unnecessary travel. Third, there's a whole lotta backtracking going on. Once you've achieved an objective, you have to retrace your steps through all the areas you've already seen which is time-consuming. There are funny palanquin carriers located here and there that are meant to be used for speed travel but inevitably, their route isn't going where you need it to.
In spite of these issues, there's lots more good than bad to Muramasa, especially in terms of convenience. For the most part, leveling is incidental so there's not a lot of grinding involved. And when you die, you don't lose anything; you keep the experience you've gained and start again right where you are. My favorite is that you always know where you're going due to arrows pointing the way and the semi-transparent onscreen map. In addition to these fun-maximizing aspects, the sheer creativity of the game is sure to win most gamers over. The setting, infused with the Japanese take on morality and ideas about death, Heaven and Hell is really interesting and fresh to a Western audience. Then there are the boss encounters which are--to use a hackneyed phrase--epic. You won't believe the scale of some of them and you'll find it truly awesome getting to speak to the huge, heavenly, lotus-bedecked Amitabha. And finally there are the heroes, especially Momohime, who's now officially my favorite female character since the beautiful, female martial arts master I played in Jade Empire.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a must-have Wii title. With wide audience appeal and great replayability due to different endings (the ending depends on which blades you've equipped during the final boss battle), three difficulties and two unique single-player storylines complete with unique bosses and some unique enemies, it's an incredible entertainment value.
Fun Factor: Fun from the minute you load up the game to the end of the last boss battle. Two thumbs up. Wait--make that three.
Game Length: 6-8 hours per storyline on default difficulty.
Difficulty: Default difficulty is totally manageable. Hard and Hardest are well…hard.
On the Negative Side: Pacing could be better and save points are irregular. Not the greatest having to retread long distances on foot.
Bang for your Buck: Some of the best-looking fun $50 can buy.
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